Thirty years later: The Conspirators return for one night only

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 September 2017

Hits: 5812

If you remember the halcyon days of Sydney’s exploding live music scene in the 1980s, you need to make a beeline for Marrickville Bowling Club in the city's inner-west on Saturday night. 

The Conspirators were in the thick of it back then, an archetypal garage band formed by five then young Sydney music fans who were sick of paying to get into gigs. 

They became something of a fixture, growing a following and issuing a single and an EP before going on to other bands including The Sweet Ride, Psychotic Turnbuckles and Sheek the Shayk. 

With their last show 30 years ago, The Conspirators are reforming for one gig only. They’ll be joined by The Stukas - punk rock veterans - and rejuvenated mods, The Smart Folk. Special guest DJ will be Steven Danno, spinning his collection of prime ‘60s punk and ‘80s Detroit rock.

The Conspirators are doing a special re-issue CD of their back catalogue (plus a new song) for sale on the nightm and have had T-shirts printed for this auspicious occasion. Tickets available on the door or cheaper in advance here.

• the smart folk
• marrickville bowling club
• conspirators
• the stukas

He Blinded Me With Science

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

19 September 2017

Hits: 9929

_{Leanne Cowie (nee Chock), Boris Sudjovic, Kim Salmon and Tony Thewlis. Collectively known as The Scientists.} 

Ever have an attack of the stupids?

No? Must be me then. 

See, The Barman asked me to do this interview with Kim Salmon to mark an Australian Scientists tour with the classic "experimental" line-up. A phoner. I wrote back saying, I couldn't, I'd be in Melbourne. 

No answer.

• scientists
• kim salmon
• tour
• boris sudjovic
• leanne cowie
• leanne chock
• australian
• tony thewlis
• 2017

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RIP Grong Grong guitarist Charlie Tolnay

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 September 2017

Hits: 8985

Grong Grong, Lubricated Goat and King Snake Roost guitarist Charlie Tolnay has passed away in Adelaide after a brief and unexpected illness. The news was posted on the Grong Grong Facebook page last night.

Tolnay was an original member of the band, formed by his half brother Michael Farkas in 1983. The band expired with the near death of Farkas in 1984 and reformed in 2009. More details when they come to hand.

• Citadel
• grong grong
• king snake roost
• charlie tolnay
• lubricated goat

Dislocation - The Primevals (Triple Wide)

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 September 2017

Hits: 4344

Rock and roll isn’t dead - it’s just being ground into the carpet like so much stray cigarette ash by the powers of mediocrity and digital division. If you apply the vacuum hard enough and in the right places, you’ll still find it.

So point the nozzle of your Hoover (or Dyson, if you’re cashed up) in the direction of Glasgow, Scotland, and suck up as much of The Primevals as you can. Three decades into their existence (admittedly, with a break in the middle), these gnarly Scots are staking a claim for independence from the banal indifference that passes for mainstream radio rock, Jock.

• primevals
• disinhibitor
• glasgow
• scotland
• triple wide

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Leadfinger hits Europe for October tour

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 September 2017

Hits: 5379

After almost a decade of hanging around the fringes of the Australian music business, Leadfinger are making their first trip to Europe to play a run of gigs this October.

The tour kicks off in Paris before zig zaging across France with support from locals Asphalt Touregs, who feature former Fixed Up singer/guitarist Francois Lebas.

After a layover in Switzerland to play Geneva and a spot of recording in southern Spain, the tour ends with a couple of gigs in Barcelona and Madrid with fellow Aussies, James McCann and the New Vindictives.

Leadfinger is one the best underground rock’n’roll bands in Australia right now.

Since forming in 2007, they have released five albums through various labels, including Spain’s Bang! Records and Australia's Citadel Records.

The most recent Leadfinger album, "Friday Night Heroes” - out through Conquest of Noise Records - was met with high praise as their best yet.

• leadfinger
• tour
• european
• fixed up

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Scott Morgan's back with a new soul record

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 September 2017

Hits: 6449

Detroit legend Scott Morgan is back with his first album in 10 years with the releae of "Rough and Ready" on Rouge Records (LP and download) on October 27.

Morgan has teamed with crack Michigan band The Sights to hammer out "Rough and Ready", a return to his soul music roots first planted with The Rationals back in the '60s.  

The Sights have been around since 1998 and have five albums and numerous US and European tours under their belts.

Morgan is a former member of Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Hydromatics, Scott Morgan Band, Dodge Main (with Wayne Kramer and Deniz Tek) and many more.

He achieved succcess as a blue-eyed soul prodigy fronting The Rationals, wrote for and performed with the Hellacopters and charted in Scandinavia with The Solution, a soul band he fronted with Nicke Royale (Hellacopters) on drums.   

• rationals
• scott morgan
• the sights
• rouge records
• rough and ready

Eyes Ninety - Eyes Ninety (Swashbuckling Hobo)

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By The Barman

The Barman

09 September 2017

Hits: 4272

Old heads from Brisbane’s Chinese Burns (not to be confused with Sydney band Chinese Burns Unit) and The Standing 8 Count populate this band, which has been kicking around the River City (does anyone even call it that?) for four years. The eponymous record (vinyl and download) is its first output and came out in 2015.

If you know the members’ previous bands you know the postcode in which “Eyes Ninety” resides. There are elements of its predecessors but its music stands alone. Wanna label it? Let’s call it “swampy punk rock”. 

• swamp
• brisbane
• swashbuckling hobo
• eyes ninety

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James McCann, the ramblin' man who's got a lotta moves

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

07 September 2017

Hits: 9827

_{James McCann leads his New Vindictives through a set in Sydney.} 

Before he was hanging out with The Drones in Perth, or touring through Europe with his own bands, James McCann cut his teeth playing in a local band in regional Western Australia.  It was a baptism of fire, an experience that instilled in McCann a resilience that’s benefited him ever since.

“There’d be bikers, surfers, shearers, hippies, all mixing into one crowd, and fuckin’ getting’ shitfaced,” McCann says.  “It could go real good, or it could go south really quickly. Heavy stuff would be happening, and you’d be up there watching. You had to hold your own. 

"So by the time we got to Perth, playing was a walk in the park!  The whole of my music career since then has been easy, crowd-wise.”

McCann grew up in the Western Australian town of Albany, 400 kilometres south-east of Perth. McCann’s father had moved from Scotland to Australia in the 1950s.  After marrying a local woman in Sydney, where McCann’s elder sister was born, the McCanns moved back to Scotland, where James and his younger sister were born. 

• drones
• james mccann
• nunchukka superfly
• harpoon
• gotta lotta move: boom!

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Lucky 7 - Lyres (Munster)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 September 2017

Hits: 4050

Never heard of Lyres? Consider this review an education. The rest of you with the remotest interest in the band or the seven-inch vinyl format should just scroll to the end and hit the Buy It link.

In the beginning, there was DMZ, a ‘60s-influenced Boston “punk” band of the late ‘70s who signed to the Bomp and then Sire labels..,and promptly fell off the edge of the earth. 

They can find live recordings but a studio EP and a solitary eponymous album were their only recorded output during their brief lifespan (the latter spoilt by over-production - thanks Flo and Eddie!) DMZ were especially notable for two things: Recording a killer cover of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and spawning Monoman, aka Jeff Connolly.

Connolly was the organist-vocalist for DMZ and a more ornery, irascible devotee of ‘60s rock and roll Nuggetism you’d be unlikely to uncover. His online outbursts on the old Bomp mailing list were the stuff of capslock legend. Within days of DMZ dissolving, he’d assembled a new band, Lyres. Other DMZ members would go on to play with The Cars and Ya Lo Tengo. Lyres have colaborated with the likes of the late Stiv Bators and Wally Tax (from Holland's wonderful Outsiders.) 

Monoman (so called because of his predilection for the audio format) has a vocal not a million miles away from that of Roky Erickson. He’s been the one constant in countless line-ups of Lyres, some of which have contained DMZ members. Lyres live on today. 

“Lucky 7” assembles 16 Lyres tracks over seven, 7” singles and is the last word in the garage rock revival scene (a term Connolly hates) of the 1980s. Most of the songs appeared on Ace of Hearts Records, the band’s Boston home. They’re compiled on an accompanying CD which is part of the box set, not a standalone at this stage. This review is being written from that.

Lyres - never “The Lyres” or the more heinous sin of “Thee Lyres” - made (and continue to make) wired, melodic, energetic, hooky, organ-propelled rock and roll. It’s peerless in its simplicity, soulfulness and freshness. 

Its epitome is the first Lyres album, “On Fire” (1984), and especially the first side, where tremolo-edged gems like “Help You Ann”  and “Don’t Give It Up Now” blow away anything else in the ballpark. It’s the peak but all the subsequent releases are worth your time of day. 

A box set of singles is the ultimate vehicle for Lyres songs. All the greatest pre-download bands should be summed by their 7” singles. This set includes  the band’s first recording, taken from an acetate of “How Do You Know?” And “It’s All Right”, put down a fortnight into their existence. These are rough recordings and largely of historical interest (the definitive “How Do You Know?” Is on disc two.) The other singles span the pre and post “On Fire” output.

You might know “She Pay The Rent” from the Nomads’ rather different cover. Great song either way you cut, it but Lyres’ version wins hands-down on economy. “We Sell Soul” brings up the rear on the final single and it’s a magnificent cover of a brooding song by Roky Erickson’s pre-Elevators band The Spades.

How often can you hold up a box set and say there isn’t a dud in the tracklist?    

Buy it 

• lyres
• dmz
• monoman
• jeff connolly
• munster